Steve Mason is blessed with a build that would fit in almost any pro sport, but his lithe yet powerful frame makes him especially suited to be a hockey goaltender.

Blue Jackets goaltending coach Ian Clark, hired in June, made sure to quickly remind his newest charge that a 6-foot-4, 211-pound body is a real bonus in net.

“He has the size; he has the bulk,” Clark said. “He is a real good technical goalie. He can work in a small space very effectively.”

Clark, tasked with helping Mason regain the form that made him the Calder Trophy winner as the NHL rookie of the year in 2008-09, has a plan: downsize Mason’s workplace, decreasing how far he ranges from the arc of the goal crease and making his every move more efficient.

“As you take more depth (distance from the net), the distance to recover your angle increases,” Clark said. “That requires more power, more speed. It just destabilizes your game.

“Some goalies have to (play with more depth) because of their size. That isn’t the case with Steve.”

Mason, with 3.03 and 3.06 goals-against averages the past two seasons, has taken to Clark’s plan.

“It’s being a little more conservative,” Mason said. “At the end of the day, it’s going to make me quicker going from one side of the net to the other because there is less distance to travel.

“There is less panic because of the shortened distance.”

The results are encouraging. Mason was 4-0 with a 1.98 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage in four exhibition games.

The operative word: exhibition. Mason will face a true test tonight, when the Blue Jackets open the season against the Nashville Predators in Nationwide Arena.

“It’s just the beginning,” said Clark, who worked as a coach and consultant for the Vancouver Canucks before joining the Jackets.

Mason, more than any other Jackets player, is considered the key to a turnaround long dreamed of by the team and its fans.

The Jackets paid handsomely for players who are expected to score goals at a rate that would put the team in playoff contention. But the team will need its new-look, puck-pushing defensemen and every line of forwards to relieve the near-constant pressure that Mason has encountered since he began his NHL career.

“He’s the backbone,” defenseman James Wisniewski said. “And we’re going to give him a lot more help. He doesn’t need to see 40 shots a game.”

But Mason has often been at his best when barraged. He was 16-6-4 when he faced 30 or more shots last season.

“It’s not necessarily the amount of shots; it’s the quality of shots that we give up,” Mason said. “We can take the outside shots all day long. It’s when the opposition comes in the slot area and gets a clean shot away, that’s what we want to limit.”

Regardless of what happens in front of his crease, Mason — who said he also changed his pregame warm-up routine — will continue to hone his game with Clark.

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